Xue Dao felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He staggered back several steps before barely steadying himself, his eyes filled with shock. “You… who exactly are you?”
Li Qingxuan slowly rose to his feet and adjusted his collar unhurriedly. “Only asking now? Isn’t it a bit too late?”
With every step Li Qingxuan took forward, Xue Dao involuntarily retreated one step.
There was no trace of spiritual energy fluctuations, yet the invisible spiritual pressure weighed down on Xue Dao and the others like a suffocating mountain.
“I… we’re leaving!” Xue Dao finally could not withstand the pressure. He turned to flee.
Anyone who could casually block his full-force strike had to be a Golden Core Realm Expert.
“Did I say you could leave?” Li Qingxuan spoke calmly.
Xue Dao and his two companions instantly felt as though they had fallen into an icy abyss. Their legs felt as heavy as iron, unable to move even half a step.
“Senior… what do you want?” Xue Dao turned back, his throat bobbing with difficulty. “Our Blood Fiend Sect has a Golden Core Realm Expert overseeing it! Although you are a Golden Core Realm Expert, but…”
“Oh?” Li Qingxuan raised an eyebrow. “Are you threatening me?”
Cold sweat poured down Xue Dao’s back instantly, soaking his clothes. Only then did he realize he had just threatened an unfathomable Golden Core Realm Expert.
“No, no! I wouldn’t dare!” Xue Dao waved his hands frantically, forcing out a smile uglier than tears. “I was only… only…”
Li Qingxuan leisurely interrupted him, speaking in a serious tone, “You attacked me and caused severe emotional distress. You’ll have to compensate me for mental damages.”
Xue Dao froze for a moment, then felt as if he had been granted amnesty. He hurriedly tore off a storage pouch from his waist and offered it with both hands. “Senior is absolutely right! There are 1,000 low-grade spirit stones here. Please accept them as compensation!”
“1,000?” Li Qingxuan’s eyes lit up.
The Li Family was just a small, declining clan. They could not even earn 1,000 low-grade spirit stones in an entire year.
Seeing the subtle change in Li Qingxuan’s expression, Xue Dao’s heart trembled violently. He instinctively assumed this Golden Core Realm Expert found the amount too little.
“S-Senior, please calm your anger!” Xue Dao spun around and roared at his two stunned subordinates, “What are you idiots standing there for? Take out all the spirit stones from your storage pouches!”
The two Blood Fiend Sect elites jolted in fright and hurriedly rummaged through their pouches. One pulled out more than 300 spirit stones from his chest. The other even shook out his hidden savings from inside his shoes.
“That’s all?” Xue Dao’s face turned green with rage. He slapped the Vice Sect Master on the back of the head. “Where’s your monthly offering from last month?”
“Sect Master, I… I spent it all at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion drinking with courtesans…” the Vice Sect Master replied with a miserable expression.
The three of them fumbled together for a long while before finally scraping up another 1,000 low-grade spirit stones.
Trembling, Xue Dao stacked the two storage pouches together and presented them with both hands. “Senior, a total of 2,000 low-grade spirit stones. Please accept them…”
Li Qingxuan let out a profound hum and casually took the pouches, weighing them in his hand. “Your attitude is fairly sincere…”
“Yes, yes…” Xue Dao and the other two nodded rapidly like pecking chickens. “Senior is magnanimous!”
“Scram.” Li Qingxuan waved his hand.
“Yes, immediately!” Xue Dao felt as if he had been pardoned from death. He dragged his two subordinates and fled Myriad Treasures Pavilion in a miserable scramble.
After their figures disappeared, Li Qingxuan weighed the storage pouches in his hand, his eyes curving into crescents with delight. “Now I’ve really made a fortune…”
“Senior! How could you let them go?” Shen Bingning’s voice trembled with anxiety as she watched the three escape. Her breathing grew uneven. “This is like releasing a tiger back into the mountains!”
“I didn’t have much choice.” Li Qingxuan spread his hands with an innocent look. “The reward you offered isn’t worth me risking my life. Besides, they already paid mental damage compensation.”
As he spoke, he shook the newly acquired storage pouches, the spirit stones inside clinking crisply.
It was ridiculous. For a single Creation Pill, why would he risk his life?
If he killed the young ones, the old ones would come. If he killed the old ones, even older ones would show up. It would never end.
“But you ruined their plans!” Shen Bingning’s voice became shrill with urgency. “If you don’t kill them, they’ll definitely come back to trouble you!”
“But I’m a Golden Core Realm Expert. I don’t have a life-or-death grudge with them. Are they stupid enough to come looking for trouble with me?” Li Qingxuan smiled. “If they’re looking for someone, they’ll look for you first.”
He had not allowed his former boss to manipulate him before transmigrating. Did Shen Bingning really think she could use him against the Blood Fiend Sect?
Dream on.
Shen Bingning’s heart trembled, and cold sweat immediately broke out across her back.
That was right. The strongest person in the Blood Fiend Sect was only at the Golden Core Realm. Unless they had lost their minds, they would never provoke a Golden Core Realm Expert.
Li Qingxuan rubbed his hands together with a grin. “If you’re afraid, you can hire me. For just 30,000 low-grade spirit stones, I can guarantee your safety.”
Shen Bingning bit her lip. Panic flickered in her eyes, but she quickly forced herself to appear calm, putting on a pitiful expression. “Senior, I’ve only just taken over Myriad Treasures Pavilion. I truly can’t produce 30,000 low-grade spirit stones right now. Please help me…”
“No money? Then stop wasting my feelings. Goodbye.”
“Senior~”
Shen Bingning’s cheeks flushed faintly. Her voice softened considerably as her slender fingers rested gently on Li Qingxuan’s shoulder. “As long as you’re willing to help, I… I’m willing to do anything…”
She lowered her head slightly, her cheeks reddening, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes in a shy, hesitant gesture.
“You’re just talking empty promises here. Even drinking wine needs some peanuts to go with it.” Li Qingxuan looked her up and down and sneered. “If you’re willing to do anything, then take it off.”
“What?” Shen Bingning froze, her face turning scarlet.
She had not expected Li Qingxuan to be so direct.
“What? All talk, no real sincerity?” Li Qingxuan leaned lazily against the chair with one leg crossed over the other, looking at her as if she were a fool. “You want me to deal with the Blood Fiend Sect for you, but you have no money and no benefits to offer. Just drawing me a pie in the sky. Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“You won’t even take off your clothes. Why should I believe you?”
“Can you pole dance? Come on, dance a bit. If I’m pleased, maybe I’ll reduce the spirit stones.”
Heh. Trying to use him? Did she think he was brainless?
Shen Bingning was both humiliated and furious, yet she dared not explode. She could only say softly, “I… I don’t know how.”
“You don’t?” Li Qingxuan raised an eyebrow. “Then what are you good at?”
“I… I know how to cook chicken.”
Shen Bingning held it in for a long moment before finally blurting it out.
Li Qingxuan was stunned, then burst out laughing. “I can see that. Should I give you an award?”
Shen Bingning bit her red lips and argued seriously, “Do you think cooking chicken is easy?”
“How hard could it be?” Li Qingxuan chuckled.
“First, you have to pluck every feather clean. Not a single one can remain,” Shen Bingning said carefully. “Then you soak it in lemon juice for a while. That makes it more tender.”
Li Qingxuan froze on the spot.
There was even such a maintenance technique?
Could it be…