Do Not Live with the Dead

Money is something that can never be earned enough.

Whether it's a large or small amount, the most important thing is to have enough to meet one's needs.

Chen Xia found himself short of spirit stones, which is why he approached the cultivators present to ask for them.

Note that it was a request, not a loan.

The cultivators present had no way to refuse. Jia Bai had already been beaten half to death, and no one dared to voice any objections.

Li Yue stood below, her mouth slightly agape, feeling disgruntled. She thought that the Lord of the Dead Star was really heartless. If he wanted the money, he could have just taken it, so why did he have to say it in front of everyone? It was really disrespectful.

After all, they had been living together in the Dead Star Region for over half a month. Why was he suddenly treating them like strangers?

Chen Xia remained silent and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a ghost appeared beside each person, cupping their hands together and asking for spirit stones from the nearby cultivators.

No one dared to refuse, and a thousand spirit stones were obediently placed in the hands of the ghosts.

After receiving the spirit stones, the ghosts let out a howl of joy and disappeared into the black mist, merging with it.

The cultivators looked on with bitter smiles, feeling helpless. Perhaps this was the oppressive power of high-level cultivators.

Originally, the idea of collecting money for entrance tickets was extremely absurd, but when spoken by the Lord of the Dead Star, it seemed so reasonable.

Indeed, might makes right.

Jia Bai swallowed a healing pill, spat out a mouthful of stagnant blood, and struggled to get up. He looked at the ghost beside him, hesitated for a moment, and said with a bitter smile to Chen Xia, "Senior, I don't have so many spirit stones on me. Can we make some arrangements? I'll give them to you when I get them from the Hundred Souls Sect."

Chen Xia replied, "Give me whatever you have now, and then follow me to the Dead Star Region. When the Hundred Souls Sect replenishes the spirit stones, you can leave."

Jia Bai lowered his head, unable to even force a bitter smile. He rummaged through his storage magic treasure for a while, took out everything valuable, and shouted to Chen Xia, "This should be worth about 80,000 spirit stones. Please take them for now, Senior."

Chen Xia didn't respond. The ghosts picked up these items one by one and moved them back into the black mist. The whole scene looked like they were collecting junk, without any sense of precious treasures.

Jia Bai couldn't bear to watch and closed his eyes. He felt not only physically injured but also a wound in his heart that couldn't be healed.

Let's call it a psychological shadow.

He looked down again and saw the blue-robed cultivator lying in a pool of blood. He shook his head and felt somewhat relieved.

Indeed, contrast is necessary for people.

The blue-robed cultivator was truly half-dead, his consciousness scattered, and his fate was as miserable as his broken flying sword.

The ghost appeared in front of the blue-robed cultivator and kicked him twice when he refused to give spirit stones in his half-dead state.

Those two kicks were quite harsh, almost tearing the blue-robed cultivator apart.

The half-dead blue-robed cultivator still didn't open his eyes, and the ghost could only helplessly look at Chen Xia.

Chen Xia waved his hand casually and replied, "Just move the person away directly."

The ghost immediately understood, picked up the body of the blue-robed cultivator, and disappeared into the black mist.

The two hundred thousand spirit stones from the Emperor Capital and Qiu Li arrived quickly. Neither of them dared to delay the payment, fearing being dragged into the Dead Star Region.

With this, almost all the spirit stones on the field were collected, totaling seven hundred thousand, just as Chen Xia had anticipated.

In addition to the one million spirit stones from Jia Bai and the blue-robed cultivator, it amounted to a total of one million seven hundred thousand, with surplus left for the formation that would connect to other star regions.

Chen Xia couldn't help but sigh.

Indeed, crowdfunding was the fastest way to earn money.

Li Yang's expression changed continuously as he looked at the dark figure in the sky. He had a feeling of familiarity.

He thought carefully and came up with an answer, a name that had long been sealed away.

He shook his head slightly, unwilling to believe it. He felt that he might be overthinking it.

But once this thought arose, it became increasingly intense, and it felt more and more like it.

Even the style of robbing spirit stones was strikingly similar.

Li Yang exhaled and didn't want to think about it anymore. The Chen Xia from the past had already died in the Blue Sky Sword Sea. How could he possibly appear here? Moreover, the methods of this Lord of the Dead Star were completely different from Chen Xia.

"He's already dead."

Li Yang softly said the last sentence and remained silent.

The one hundred thousand spirit stones were given, settling the debt with the Lord of the Dead Star, and there would be no more karmic entanglement.

Li Yue gave one thousand spirit stones, and it was the same, with no further karmic connection to the Lord of the Dead Star.

Chen Xia collected the spirit stones and nodded in satisfaction, waving his hand to the surroundings with a smile.

"I'll say it again, I offer various services as a substitute fighter. The appearance fee is one hundred thousand spirit stones, and the price will increase based on the opponent. It's best to make a reservation two years in advance. If it's too rushed, I might be sleeping."

After saying these words, he entered the black coffin and fell silent.

The black coffin was pulled into the black mist by tens of thousands of wandering souls and merged into it, becoming motionless.

Li Yue watched in a daze, suddenly realizing the significance of the one thousand spirit stones. She started running, the wind blowing in her ears, her hair trembling. She stopped and shouted towards the pitch-black fog.

"Can I still find you in the future?!"

The black mist certainly wouldn't answer.

And the sky was filled with nothing but the black mist.

Li Yue waited blankly, gritted her teeth suddenly, and directly boarded the Li family's shuttle, heading towards the Dead Star Region.

Li Yang watched from the side without saying a word. She knew very well that this wasn't about affection; it was more like friends seeking an explanation.

The onlookers of cultivators looked at the disappearing black mist. The excitement faded, and they lost interest in continuing to watch, especially since they had also paid one thousand spirit stones. It was truly unlucky.

Qiu Li shook his head, patted the shoulder of the Emperor Capital, and smiled bitterly, "We suffered a huge loss."

The Emperor Capital exhaled a breath but smiled. He was comforting himself.

Qiu Li pondered for a moment and realized that it seemed to be the case. He chuckled softly and said, "We should keep a low profile in the future. I never expected there to be so many powerful individuals in the star region. The pressure is truly immense."

As he said this, the Emperor Capital's expression also turned serious. As the first victim, he had the qualifications to express his opinions. He nodded.

"I can only say that the pressure was tremendously intense. When he pointed at me, I felt like I was going to die. This person must have a cultivation power of at least the fifth level of the Heaven Mending Realm, and possibly even higher."

The two of them exchanged a glance and sighed, acknowledging their defeat.

This farce initiated by the Hundred Souls Sect came to a hasty conclusion.

In the following five days, Li Yue chased after them all the way to the outskirts of the Dead Star Region, but no matter what, she couldn't enter. She was being rejected by the Dead Star Region.

Frowning, she kicked the shuttle and shouted towards the Dead Star Region, "I can leave you alone, but there's no need for you to be so ruthless. You've gone so far as to sever the karmic ties. How could you do this? We had a good rapport, and I even wanted to become your disciple!"

There was no response. The Dead Star Region remained silent, as if it were truly dead.

The mist didn't stir, and the lost souls didn't wail.

The distant starry river emitted a profound light, but it couldn't reach inside the Dead Star Region.

Li Yue wanted to say something more, but her body, along with the shuttle, began to move and retreat continuously. Surrounding her were stars that were shifting backward.

It was as if she had entered an extremely fast tunnel, and suddenly she looked up.

At the forefront of the tunnel, a blurry figure waved at her, and a deep voice echoed in her ears.

"Do not associate with the dead."

She blinked and turned her head, only to see the entire Li family behind her.

Thirty years had passed.

It was only a dream that was severed with a single word.

————

————