A transaction

After the war between the Righteous and Evil factions, Elder Sun had been depressed to the point of death. He hadn't succeeded in harming Long Chen, and instead, Tu Fang had noticed a trace of his schemes.

Upon returning to the Branch Courtyard, other Elders were all granted a large amount of Merit Points as rewards, but he received only a small fraction of what others got.

These so-called Merit Points were the same in nature as the points for Disciples, but they were issued specifically for Elders.

With Merit Points, Elders could exchange for the essential Cultivation items they needed from the Branch Courtyard. If the Branch Courtyard didn't have them…

…they could request leave from the Branch Courtyard to go to the Sub-Courtyard to exchange for them. The Sub-Courtyard was the direct superior of the Branch Courtyard and possessed all kinds of treasures, provided one had enough Merit Points.

Therefore, Merit Points were practically the lifeblood of the Elders. For Elder-level experts, the primary source of their Merit Points was the monthly welfare distributed by the Branch Courtyard.

For an ordinary war between the Righteous and Evil factions, the distributed welfare was considered generous, equivalent to their annual welfare.

However, this war between the Righteous and Evil factions was different. Elder-level experts were no longer just overseeing; they were personally taking action and engaging in life-or-death battles.

Thus, the Merit Points distributed for this war were equivalent to the total sum of ten years of hard toil in the Branch Courtyard.

The other Elders were ecstatic, but Elder Sun's income was halved. It would be strange if Elder Sun could be happy.

However, he didn't dare to refute it because when Tu Fang distributed the Merit Points to him, he had said, "The amount of Merit Points is issued based on the effort put in during the battle, you understand."

This one sentence, "You understand," instantly stifled all of Elder Sun's complaints, turning them into shit that couldn't be spewed out.

Elder Sun, with a gloomy face, returned to his Immortal Cave. The next day, someone brought him even more depressing news: the Branch Courtyard had decided to have an Elder who performed exceptionally in battle take over the Xuan Tian Pavilion.

Hearing this, Elder Sun was so angry his lungs were about to explode. One had to know that the welfare of Elders in the Branch Courtyard was linked to their positions.

Elder Sun had occupied the lucrative position of the Xuan Tian Pavilion for decades. He hadn't expected Tu Fang to be so ruthless, stripping him of everything in one go.

He was demoted to an idle Elder. A so-called idle Elder was someone without a position, who could only receive a meager subsistence allowance each month. How could Elder Sun bear this?

In the past, Elder Sun was considered a figure of high status and power among the Elders of the Branch Courtyard, and other Elders were always polite when they saw him.

But now, because of such a "minor accidental matter," he was suspended. Without the generous position subsidies, he would have to dip into his savings just by relying on that meager allowance.

Therefore, Elder Sun put on a thick-skinned face and humbly went to ask Elder Tu Fang for an explanation as to why he was being treated this way.

As a result, one sentence from Tu Fang almost caused Elder Sun's anus to burst, and the belly full of shit was almost about to spray out.

"You understand." Tu Fang's reply remained short and concise.

After returning to his residence, Elder Sun smashed the decorations in his Immortal Cave to pieces, swearing that if anyone dared to say those three words again, he would strangle them.

For the past few days, Elder Sun couldn't eat or sleep well, and he had no heart to Cultivate either. He felt like he was going to be driven mad by anger.

He knew that Tu Fang was playing dirty with him, a typical case of using one's own methods against them. Back then, he had found an excuse to cover up the matter of framing Long Chen flawlessly, not letting Tu Fang catch any handle on him.

Now Tu Fang was following suit, using his lack of effort during the battle as a handle to make an issue, bringing him down and leaving him with a belly full of fire that he couldn't vent.

That day, Elder Sun, feeling extremely suffocated, smashed the newly replaced decorations in his Immortal Cave again, feeling much better inside.

"Reporting to the Elder, Long Chen requests an audience."

Just as Elder Sun's mood had improved slightly, Long Chen arrived.

As soon as Long Chen entered Elder Sun's Immortal Cave, he saw the mess on the floor and couldn't help but clap his hands and say:

"Elder Sun truly has refined interests, doing exercise early in the morning. Tsk tsk, what a great mood."

"Long Chen, don't you dare be smug with me. Speak, what exactly do you want with me? If you just want to see me make a fool of myself, you can get lost." Elder Sun stared at Long Chen with a gloomy face.

At this moment, Long Chen's face wore a smile like a blessing from heaven, which instantly reignited the anger that had just dissipated from Elder Sun.

"You are so old, your temper should be smaller. Doesn't the book say that sinister people have strong willpower? It seems you, this sinister person, are not sinister enough." Long Chen sighed and said.

"Are you looking for death?"

Elder Sun was furious. The so-called 'sinister person' in Long Chen's mouth was a term for eunuchs in the mortal world; the pronunciations of 'castrated person' and 'sinister person' were similar, and in terms of gender, there was also a slight connection.

However, in the Cultivation world, a 'sinister person' referred to those men who practiced Yin techniques and became neither male nor female, neither Yin nor Yang—it was an insult.

"Looking for shit? That's right, otherwise why would I come here? What I'm looking for is exactly you, this pile of very, very old shit!" Long Chen said indifferently.

"Long Chen, don't force me to kill you." Elder Sun's hair stood on end, his eyes were bloodshot, and his Aura erupted, pushing him to the brink of a rampage.

"First, you cannot kill me. Even without Chu Yao's support, you cannot kill me. Your attack would just be a waste of effort.

Second, once you make a move, you will regret it for the rest of your life, because you will miss out on the thing you dream of."

Long Chen found a broken-legged chair, leaned it against the wall, sat on it comfortably, crossed his legs, and watched Elder Sun very relaxedly.

Elder Sun knew that Long Chen was simply a monster. Even without Chu Yao's assistance, if he wanted to kill Long Chen, it wouldn't be something he could accomplish in two or three moves.

Once he attacked with full force, he would inevitably shatter the Immortal Cave and attract other experts, so he also knew that killing Long Chen was simply unrealistic.

Just now, those were only angry words. However, after hearing Long Chen's latter sentence, he frowned and said, "What do you mean?"

"I want to make a transaction with you." Long Chen lightly brushed off some dust from his sleeve that he had touched when grabbing the chair, and said indifferently.

"What transaction?" Elder Sun asked in a deep voice.

"What are you pretending for? Do you not know what I have on me that you are coveting? It truly is like wanting to be a whore while still wanting to set up a memorial archway for chastity." Long Chen snorted coldly, his face full of disdain.

"Bullshit, what nonsense are you spouting?" Elder Sun said angrily. Although he wanted the things on Long Chen, he absolutely could not admit it.

"It's not that I look down on you, but that I truly look down on you."

Long Chen shook his head in disdain, and an ancient stone appeared in his hand, engraved with ancient patterns and emitting an archaic Aura.

Seeing the stone in Long Chen's hand, Elder Sun's pupils constricted. He knew that stone was called Black Zircon, which was incomparably sturdy and difficult to damage with blades or swords.

Black Zircon itself was an extremely rare forging material, but its most powerful aspect was that it could serve as a Legacy for powerful Cultivation Techniques and combat skills.

When experts engraved Cultivation Techniques and combat skills onto the Black Zircon, the Black Zircon would retain a portion of the engraver's Concept, allowing future generations to comprehend them more easily.

And the Black Zircon in Long Chen's hand carried a kind of Concept; although it was somewhat faint, with Elder Sun's strength, it was still very easy to discover.

"Originally, I wanted to make a transaction with you, but since you are so shameless and refuse to admit it, then forget it. You can continue being your hypocrite." Long Chen sneered and started to walk out.

"Wait a moment." Elder Sun hurriedly called out.

Long Chen turned his head, looked at Elder Sun with his eyes slanted, and said, "What, you want to keep me? Kill me to silence me? Still the same words: it's not that I look down on you, but that I truly look down on you."

Elder Sun's face turned blue and red. Long Chen's words were too hurtful, but for the sake of the treasure, he still patiently said, "How do you want to trade?"

Elder Sun was also an extremely shrewd person. He had inquired about Long Chen's background; according to Long Chen's status, he absolutely should not know about Black Zircon, so the possibility of it being a fake was not high.

Furthermore, Black Zircon was incomparably sturdy. If one wanted to engrave things on it, one couldn't even think about it without Innate-level cultivation. Even if Long Chen wanted to fake it, he didn't have that ability. To use Long Chen's words: it's not looking down on you, it's truly looking down on you.

The third point was that the Aura attached to the Black Zircon in Long Chen's hand was exactly the same as the Aura Long Chen emitted when he activated his Divine Ring.

Through these three points, Elder Sun concluded that the Black Zircon in Long Chen's hand was the mysterious Cultivation Technique Long Chen had obtained, which was why he was so anxious to call Long Chen back.

Although he didn't know what Long Chen's true purpose was, Elder Sun had long coveted Long Chen's Cultivation Technique. Since there was an opportunity, he naturally would absolutely not let it go, which was why he thickened his face to call Long Chen back.

"A transaction is just like discussing business. Discussing business emphasizes harmony to generate wealth. If there is no harmony, wealth cannot be generated, and it will only result in a difficult birth. Your words just now made me very unhappy, so I have decided now, I will not trade with you." Long Chen turned and walked out.

Seeing this, Elder Sun became very anxious and flashed in front of Long Chen. This was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity. If he let Long Chen leave, he would regret it to death.

"Long Chen, everything is negotiable. Please calm down first." Elder Sun, with an old face like tree bark, forced a smile and said.

"If you want me to calm down, that's possible. First, you must admit that what you said before was all bullshit." Long Chen looked at Elder Sun with slanted eyes and said.

"This… fine, I admit that I was talking bullshit before." Elder Sun hesitated for a moment, and seeing Long Chen about to leave, he gritted his teeth and said.

"Truly worthy of being an Elder of the Eight Sacrifices. This fart is really concentrated. If you add a little starch, this damn thing is shit. Impressive, impressive!" Long Chen laughed loudly and said.

Elder Sun's face was a bit ugly, and killing intent surged in his eyes. Long Chen was nakedly humiliating him.

However, for the sake of that mysterious Cultivation Technique, Elder Sun could only endure it for now, but he was calculating in his heart how to secretly kill Long Chen after obtaining the Cultivation Technique.

Watching the feigned calmness on Elder Sun's face and the undisguisable resentment deep in his eyes, a cold sneer appeared on Long Chen's face: Old thing, if you want my life, I will accompany you to play properly. Playing with you is not the goal; the goal is to play you to death.

For some reason, being stared at by Long Chen with a cold sneer, Elder Sun's heart skipped a beat, and a bad feeling arose.

"Speak, how will this transaction proceed? What do you want? However, transactions emphasize fairness. Do not open your lion's mouth wide; I am not a greenhorn." Elder Sun was not a fool and could not let Long Chen slaughter him, so he stated the terms clearly to give himself a chance to bargain.

Long Chen handed Elder Sun a piece of paper: "Help me procure everything on this."

Elder Sun took the piece of paper from Long Chen and looked at it. His expression changed, and he said angrily: "This is absolutely impossible!"