Suddenly, a pitch-black figure appeared, covering all the light.
The tens of thousands of screaming ghosts behind it dissipated in an instant.
In the eyes of all cultivators was this pitch-black figure. Someone recognized it first and cried out in shock,
"Lord of Dead Star!"
Li Yang had actually invited the Lord of Dead Star directly!
As soon as these four words were uttered, the leaders of the Seven Major Sects trembled, not even daring to lift their heads to look at that pitch-black figure.
The previous generation of Seven Major Sect leaders' deaths were still vivid in their minds. He didn't want to follow closely after them.
Meanwhile, Emperor Capital, half of his body shattered, lay staring blankly at the profound starry sky.
He couldn't understand.
How could there be such a huge gap when it was a contest of pressing with pressing?
He didn't quite get it.
Gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, he took out an aura-filled elixir from his storage treasure, swallowed it in one gulp, and his half-shattered body began to reconnect and reshape itself on the spot, with spiritual power flowing through, growing new flesh, reconstructing tendons and bones, restoring him to wholeness as before.
Qiu Li was already guarding in front of him, an ancient glass urn suspended before him as he watched that pitch-black figure warily, feeling overwhelmed by pressure. He turned his head and smiled at Jia Bai,
"Now you have to add money, otherwise Emperor Capital and I are going to quit."
"Even if you add money, I don't really want to fight anymore," Emperor Capital murmured from behind.
"I'll add it," Jia Bai shouted, his gaze shifting back to the pitch-black figure as he called out,
"Li Yang pays 100,000 spirit stones. I'll double it to 200,000 spirit stones. As long as you help me, we can talk about the price!"
The pitch-black figure did not respond immediately, head lowered as if looking at the vast empty void.
Then he suddenly lifted his head.
The boundless deathly stillness and black fog dissipated in an instant at this moment, revealing the profound starlight. The pitch-black robe fluttered as the hazy, muffled voice responded,
"You will give me spirit stones, not now, and more than double."
Jia Bai was taken aback, not quite understanding.
Chen Xia had already taken the first step. The void he was in quivered as his figure disappeared without any warning, appearing instantly in front of Jia Bai.
He stretched out his hand filled with black fog and flicked his finger sharply at Jia Bai, the black fog clinging and trailing like a long tail flame.
Jia Bai's pupils dilated. The simple black and white colors flashed within them, and everything around him slowed for an instant, allowing him to lift the folding fan in his hand to block Chen Xia’s flicking finger.
The folding fan unfolded, the landscape painting on it shining bright.
This flicking finger struck the landscape painting, and all the green peaks and emerald waters were suddenly shrouded in pitch-black fog. The fan itself began to turn murky black.
And the power of this flick was yet to be fully released.
The pitch-black fog exploded, the landscape within the fan unable to withstand it. The green peaks shattered first, the emerald waters dried later, the violent pitch-black fog eroding its way forward, about to crawl onto Jia Bai's palm!
Jia Bai gritted his teeth fiercely, not daring to collide forcefully with Chen Xia again. He directly discarded the fan as his figure flashed back sharply to retreat.
The fan fell, to be caught by a ghost that suddenly appeared, then flashed to Chen Xia's side, kneeling to offer up the fan with both hands.
"Worthless thing, keep it to fan yourself,"
Chen Xia said casually with a wave of his hand.
The ghost shrieked eagerly, seemingly overjoyed, then disappeared again.
Jia Bai stared fixedly at this pitch-black figure, knowing it was an existence he could not contend against. He frowned and shouted,
"Is there really no room for discussion? The Hundred Souls Sect is far wealthier than the Li family. I'm far richer than Li Yang too!"
Chen Xia nodded. "Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease."
No one understood what he meant by feeling at ease.
Jia Bai didn't get a chance to ask, because in the next instant, his spiritual sense suddenly collapsed, only seeing a blurry, profound starry sky.
What was happening...?
His figure seemed to be...
Falling backwards!
Boom!
He collided with the first meteorite, shattering it. His falling figure did not slow down in the slightest, continuing to smash backwards.
The meteorites along the way all exploded. His figure kept plunging until it finally crashed heavily onto a galaxy, causing the stars to begin trembling.
The surrounding cultivators were even more shocked and horrified. This previously arrogant Jia Bai did not have the slightest ability to fight back before the Lord of Dead Star.
Qiu Li watching from above now showed hesitation. Although his artifact was still suspended in midair, he did not dare to step forward.
The main reason was that he did not dare.
Although Jia Bai was paying a lot, it was pointless if he didn't live to collect the money.
He was afraid that if he really stepped forward, the next one sent flying would likely be himself instead.
Judging from the current situation, the two sides were on completely different levels.
This Lord of Dead Star was definitely a great cultivator at the fifth Heavenly Layer of the Heaven Mending Realm or above, capable of unfolding his own small world.
Amidst Qiu Li’s hesitation, the blue-robed cultivator suddenly drew his sword, flashing behind Chen Xia in an instant. The flying sword in his hand blazed with brilliant dazzling sword light as he swung down towards Chen Xia's head.
Clang!
The sword force shook and scattered.
There was no blood or severed head, however. Instead, two pitch black mist-wreathed hands lightly pinched the sword blade, then flicked it downwards with ease.
Seemingly effortless without any great force.
But the flying sword could not withstand it; its tip snapped off directly with a miserable cry.
The blue-robed cultivator was still frozen in shock and horror as a hand already grabbed his head, flicking it down lightly.
Boom!
The void burst open.
The blue-robed cultivator's corpse, covered in blood, fell into the starry sky, never to rise again.
Right now, the whole starry sky was deathly still.
No one dared to speak, all eyes locked onto that pitch-black figure.
This was absolute suppression!
Chen Xia casually twirled his hand. "I prefer adding fuel to fire over granting charcoal in snow. That profits the most."
His gaze turned to the severely injured Jia Bai as he started calculating,
"You're one of the Fourteen Sons of Vast Sky, and also at the Heaven Mending Realm. Naturally your price should be higher. Charging 500,000 spirit stones should not be excessive, right?"
Without waiting for Jia Bai's reply, Chen Xia looked towards the blue-robed cultivator again, continuing unprompted, "Based on customer-focused service, I'll throw this little blue-robed sword cultivator in as a 'buy one get one free' friendly price. Charging you 50,000 spirit stones isn't too much, right?"
Indeed, this was not too much. Only 550,000 spirit stones for the lives of two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators was already quite a good deal.
Chen Xia chuckled again, "Then when added together, it's exactly 550,000 spirit stones. Not a very nice number. And I love to round numbers up and down, so why not round it off to an integer..."
"Charging you both a total of 1 million spirit stones should be reasonable, right?"
As soon as these words were uttered, the surrounding watching cultivators were taken aback.
Was this rounding off method not quite right?
Yet oddly enough, on further thought, it actually did sound rather reasonable. Strange.
Jia Bai, severely injured on the ground, had a bitter expression, and though very unwilling, could only nod.
Spending 1 million spirit stones to buy two lives could still be considered him gaining benefit in the end.
After all, one had only a single life.
After getting Jia Bai's agreement, Chen Xia looked up at Qiu Li and said,
"For you, 100,000 spirit stones; for Emperor Capital, 100,000 spirit stones. No issues, right?"
Qiu Li let out an awkward laugh, not daring to refuse, even cupping his fists ceremoniously at Chen Xia,
"Thanks to senior's grace."
Emperor Capital remained silent, head bowed not daring to look at Chen Xia, somewhat frightened of Chen Xia.
Chen Xia looked around and abruptly snapped his fingers.
The area within a hundred miles was instantly enveloped by thick black fog, with hundreds and thousands of ghosts roaming within it, shrieking softly.
"For all the cultivators spectating the battle, 1,000 spirit stones per person as entrance fees. No objections, right?" Chen Xia said to the surrounding cultivators.
Indeed there were no objections, because Chen Xia had made clear these were spoils. Who would dare disagree?
The cultivators present could only smile and nod in agreement.
Chen Xia turned his head and saw Li Yue below, beaming radiantly at him. Their gazes met for a moment, Li Yue flashing him a brilliant smile, even giving him two thumbs up with her hands.
"What are you smiling about? You still have to pay," Chen Xia said blandly.
Li Yue's brilliant smile froze instantly.
Business and personal matters were clearly distinct.